Morning Headlines

Work from home win for bosses

The Fair Work Commission has recognised the productivity costs of working from home and supported bosses’ rights to get workers back to the office post pandemic under Labor’s newly expanded flexible work laws. The Fin

AusSuper still buying in race for Origin

Think AustralianSuper is feeling the pressure to get out of the way at Origin Energy? Think again. The $300 billion money manager bought more Origin shares on Friday night, to take its stake past 17 per cent. The Fin

McLennan refuses to budge as rugby board ponders his future

Rugby Australia’s board of directors is considering whether to remove embattled chairman Hamish McLennan from his position after some of the most powerful shareholders tried to force his resignation at the weekend. The Fin

Cybersecurity boost for small business

Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil is pushing to boost cybersecurity among 2.5 million small businesses to combat the growing trend of criminal groups exploiting vulnerable supply chains to attack bigger prizes. The Fin

DP World ‘puts golf above workers’

The maritime union has attacked DP World for increasing its golf tournament sponsorship by $50m while opposing the union’s pay claim for a similar amount. The Aus

Rinehart’s scam dunk on Zuckerberg

Australia’s richest person, Gina Rinehart, has accused Mark Zuckerberg of doing nothing to stop the promotion of scams and “deceptive content” on his social media platforms, including Facebook and Instagram. The Aus

Leavers’ COVID red alert

Health officials fear school leavers’ celebrations this week will become a COVID-19 super-spreader event as thousands of youngsters descend on Dunsborough to party. The West

Gina generously shells out for rowers

Billionaire mining mogul Gina Rinehart has again shown her support for Olympic hopefuls, donating a state-of-the-art carbon kevlar racing shell to the Swan River Rowing Club through her Roy Hill mining venture. The West

The Australian Financial Review

Page 3: Kevin Gosschalk, the Young Rich Lister carving a small fortune beating cyber criminals, has all but given up on Australian investors despite delivering some of them eye-watering returns.

Page 3: The income boost graduates gain from earning a university degree is declining – and falling faster for those with higher qualifications, such as a master’s degree or PhD, a study has found.

Page 6: The Treasury has cast doubt on the competition regulator’s claims that companies are wilfully failing to notify it of acquisitions, as the government mulls an overhaul of merger laws that could force firms to fight for approval in the Federal Court.

Page 10: Australia’s position as the world’s premier mining destination is threatened by the Albanese government’s looming industrial relations overhaul and sharp increases in state government mining royalties, BHP has warned.

Page 12: Superannuation funds are pouring money into more customer service staff and improving their technological and training offerings as the government and regulators warn of a crackdown on poor standards across the $3.5 trillion sector.

Page 13: Andrew and Nicola Forrest have bought Akubra, the 147-year-old Australian-owned hat company, for an undisclosed amount.

Page 13: The federal government said it will double funding for the Roads to Recovery program aimed at improving road safety by allocating more money to local councils.

Page 17: The head of project development at Hancock Prospecting has taken aim at ‘‘onerous and overreaching’’ conditions imposed on a delayed West Australian mine, and claims the state’s environmental agency wrongly double-counted emissions from a planned iron ore project.

Page 19: Macquarie’s green investments arm has backed a $10 billion initiative for a fast-tracked expansion into Australia’s renewables sector, building on the bank’s long-standing presence in clean energy and appetite for returns linked to decarbonisation.

Page 19: Discount Chinese marketplace Temu has shot to the number three spot in the Australian e-commerce rankings, unseating better-known homegrown competition Kogan, Catch and MyDeal, just six months after making its debut in this country.

Page 20: The world’s second-largest lithium producer is warning investors of further price declines as a glut of the metal continues to work its way through the battery supply chain.

Page 24: The Australian owner of Britishvolt has blamed a tax raid, critical media coverage and ‘‘intentional sabotage’’ by employees for the near collapse of his global businesses, as he faces down legal action from staff demanding months of backpay.

Page 30: Residential developers will struggle to secure subcontractors even as costs stabilise because subcontractors, who perform up to 90 per cent of the work done on site, will be unwilling to accept the same levels of risk as before the disruption of the past two years, data provider Altus Group says.

Page 32: Rental housing will emerge as one of the largest single asset classes within the commercial property sector as the ‘‘great reset’’ sparked by higher interest rates reshapes investment for years to come, according to one of the world’s largest investors, PGIM Real Estate.

The Australian

Page 3: The Tourism WA cheque must have been one handsome payday for Coldplay – near the end of the first night of the British rock quartet’s two Perth-exclusive shows, frontman Chris Martin performed a “one-time-only” ode for the state.

Page 4: The Coalition is threatening to sink the Albanese government’s proposed more muscular petroleum resource rent tax unless Labor backs four new measures making it easier for oil and gas projects to go ahead.

Page 4: The ACTU has accused mining companies of engaging in hysteria over Labor’s industrial relations changes, declaring mining companies could give every Australian worker a cost- of-living 6 per cent pay rise and still be the most profitable industry in the country. 

Page 5: The Yindjibarndi people of the Pilbara are considering increasing their share in one of the nation’s largest renewable energy projects from 25 to 50 per cent.

Page 15: A cyber attack on Optus last year cost it $140m, it can be revealed, with its Singapore parent now looking at any signs of a further earnings hit after the telco’s recent massive outage – and large losses are likely to determine CEO Kelly Bayer Rosmarin’s future.

Page 17: Many high street retailers are finding the cost of living squeeze is starting to crimp profits. But the fever already building around this year’s Black Friday sale suggests shoppers are still happy to spend up big despite economic pressures.

Page 17: The South African owners of Country Road Group, whose stores include Country Road, Witchery and Mimco, say the sombre conditions in the retail sector have deteriorated to the point where its fashion chains are suffering a double-digit collapse in sales growth.

Page 20: Interest paid by bank deposits is running higher than inflation for the first time since the pandemic, and savers are being urged to shop around and switch as the best rates eclipse 5.5 per cent.

The West Australian

Page 16: The sprawling region east of Perth is shaping as a new political battleground as the major parties push for the State’s 16th Federal seat to be established in the area.

Page 17: An ambitious new vision to transform Fremantle Oval as part of a thriving mixed-use precinct has been pitched to the Albanese Government in a bid to secure Commonwealth support.

Page 19: Draft laws unveiled last week were supposed to be the least contentious elements of Quality of Advice reforms, but the Financial Advice Association of Australia is assessing whether fee disclosures and consents are about to become even messier.